


Excuse Me?

by emptydistractions



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bottom Bucky Barnes, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Top Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:09:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21904255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptydistractions/pseuds/emptydistractions
Summary: Soulmates are great and all, but sometimes Steve thinks he would rather try to stop a tank with his bare hands than spend another second looking for his. Besides, with a soulmark as boring as the one he's got, what are the chances of ever finding them in the first place?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 24
Kudos: 442
Collections: Stucky Secret Santa 2019





	Excuse Me?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jaskiest](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaskiest/gifts).



> A gift for buckys_barn for the 2019 Stucky Secret Santa. I hope you like it! ❤

“You know these things never work, right?” Steve asked with a wheeze. He was struggling to keep up with the brisk pace that Sam had set as they hurried down the sidewalk. “I mean, the statistics alone of a person finding their soulmate are just-”

“You know what I hear?” Sam cut him off, glancing at Steve over his shoulder. His steps slowed just a little, and for that, Steve was grateful. “Blah, blah, blah, I’m a cynic who’s too pessimistic to believe in a little romance.”

“I’m not saying I don’t _believe_ in it,” Steve huffed. “Just that the odds of me actually finding my soulmate at one of these things is about the same as the odds of pigs flying.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it, Steve.”

“I don’t need to try jumping off a cliff to know it’s a bad idea,” Steve muttered. “Sometimes you just _know_.”

“Hey, man.” Sam stopped suddenly in front of the double doors, heedless of the fact that they were already running late as it was. Steve tried (and probably failed) to regulate his breathing, not wanting to show how much their sprint across campus had tired him out. “Remember what we talked about?”

“Sam, seriously.”

“ _Steve_ ,” Sam said pointedly, clearly not deterred in the slightest.

Steve sighed. “Being more open to trying new things,” he recited flatly. “ _Even_ when those new things are clearly stupid and have been proven to actually _lower_ a person’s overall hope of-”

“Exactly,” Sam cut him off again. “Being more open to trying. Now go.”

Steve bit back a sharp retort as Sam pushed him through the doors. _Sam_ , with his infuriatingly perfect, _specific_ soulmark. It had been one of the first things Steve had noticed about him when they’d met, followed closely by a seriously stunning pair of eyes and a witty personality to match. The words, the first thing Sam’s soulmate would say to him, were scrawled chaotically across his wrist, the thick, black letters spilling over onto his forearm _‘Well, you shouldn’t have left your dog there if you didn’t want me to pet it.’_ With a mark like that, it seemed impossible that Sam _wouldn’t_ find his soulmate one day.

Steve pulled the sleeve of his sweater down over his own soulmark surreptitiously. It was a completely non-descript _‘excuse me’_ in neat cursive over his left wrist, the pale blue color of the letters blending into Steve’s pale skin like it was trying to disappear altogether.

“Hello!” A blonde girl with a cheerful smile and an arm decorated in bright purple words greeted them from behind the check-in table. “Come on in and make yourselves some name tags.” She gestured towards the pile of blank tags and a messy jumble of half-open sharpies. “We’ll be getting started in a few minutes.”

“I don’t know why you even bothered to come,” Steve muttered out of the corner of his mouth to Sam as they moved down the table. “It’s not like _you_ need the help.”

“I’m supporting a friend,” Sam replied brightly, slapping on a name tag. He’d even added a little smiley face at the bottom. The blonde girl grinned at him over her shoulder as she checked in a few more late stragglers and Sam winked back, making her blush.

Steve sighed and turned away from them to face the room. Whoever was organizing this event had commandeered a lecture hall for the evening. Steve thought he vaguely remembered having a class in here during his freshman year. All the desks and chairs were pushed off to the sides, and crepe paper had been hung at irregular intervals along with some balloons that had clearly seen better days. The whole thing combined was such a dreary image that Steve was sorely tempted to just turn around and walk back out entirely, Sam’s good intentions be damned.

There were more people than he’d thought would be there, more people than Steve had anticipated by a long shot. His stomach turned as he gazed at the crowd of laughing, talking students. At least a hundred of them, his brain informed him after a rough count. A hundred new chances at disappointment when none of them were the one he’d been searching for. Steve had been telling the truth; he didn’t know why he’d agreed to come here at all. When Sam had first told him about the event, held once a month on campus by the Sociology club, Steve had scoffed at the idea.

“Come on, man,” Sam had said. “It’s like speed-dating. It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah,” Steve replied bitterly. “Speed-dating for people with soulmarks so vague they might as well not have one at all.”

“People find their soulmates at these sorts of things all the time,” Sam insisted. “You know the best chance you have of finding them is to expose yourself to as many people as you can! And besides, they wouldn’t keep doing it if it didn’t work.”

In the end though, Steve had agreed without much more persuasion. The truth was, and God forbid he ever _admit_ it, he still had more hope than he knew what to do with. He’d tried almost everything over the years, but the sad matter of fact was that in a world of seven billion people, finding your soulmate with words as non-specific as _‘excuse me’_ was next to impossible. Steve logically knew that most of the population never found their soulmates at all, and they still went on to live perfectly happy, meaningful lives. But the ones who did? Those were the ones who were written about in the history books. And Steve couldn’t help it. He just… hoped. But every time he heard those words, it hurt that much more.

Somewhere, someone tapped on a microphone, and feedback from the speakers screeched throughout the room. Steve looked around for the source of the noise, and saw the blonde girl from earlier standing on a chair to be seen and looking sheepish.

“Hi, everyone,” she said, and laughed nervously. “I know we’re all excited to begin, so I’ll go over the rules quickly. This is pretty simple. All you have to do is find a person you don’t know, and then talk! After 30 seconds, the bell will ring and you find someone new to talk to. Easy, right?” The crowd murmured in agreement and the girl grinned. “Then let’s get started! Thank you all for coming out, and we wish everyone one of you good luck!”

The ringing of the bell echoed through the room and Steve immediately started to panic. He hadn’t had to make small talk in months. Not since that last disastrous attempt at online dating that had proven once and for all that no one wanted to go out with a five-foot-nothing asthmatic with a bum heart.

As if he could sense Steve’s distress, Sam’s voice was suddenly in his ear. “You’ll be _fine_ , Steve. Relax and be yourself. If they don’t love you for that, then they’re idiots.”

Steve smiled grimly at his friend as Sam pushed him forward into the crowd, feeling more like he was being sent to the gallows than just going to meet people like himself who were still hopeful on the never-ending search to find their soulmate. The buzz of a hundred different conversations filled the room as Steve searched for someone. He stopped in front of the first person he saw; a beautiful brunette with bright red lips and a full, dark lashes. Steve glanced down and saw the curly, looping letters peeking out from underneath her sleeve. _‘Nice to meet you’._

“What’s your name?” she asked, her voice accentuated in a way he wasn’t expecting.

“Steve.”

“I’m Peggy.”

They both knew right away it wasn’t a match. That was how things always went when he met a new person. That brief flare of something bright in his chest, that maybe, just _maybe_ , this would be the one. He’d read about it, seen countless movies, and heard the songs on the radio that all described that feeling of looking at someone and the world coming alive for the first time. Steve wondered what that would feel like.

But for now, he wasn’t keen to add insult to injury by saying the words he knew she so desperately wanted to hear. “How are you tonight?”

Her full lips curved into a smile, clearly grateful. “I’m well. And you?”

Steve forced a laugh. “As good as I can be, given all…this.” He waved a hand at the crowd around them and she laughed.

Their 30 seconds went by quickly, and just before the bell rang to signal the end of their conversation, Peggy said, “Good luck tonight, darling. I’m sure you’ll find them.”

Steve nodded. “I hope so. And I hope you find yours too.”

The bell rang loudly and the crowd began to move again. Steve glanced around for Sam, but didn’t see him in the sea of faces that passed by. Steve took a deep breath and plunged into the next conversation in what he was now sure was going to be a very long night.

“Hi,” Steve said as he approached a tall man with brown hair worn short and a neatly trimmed goatee.

The man took one look at Steve and said, “Nope, not it.”

Steve immediately frowned, a bit taken aback by the abruptness.

“Hey,” the man continued. “Any chance you’ve seen a redhead anywhere? She’s about this tall,” he held a hand out to illustrate,“with legs for days.”

Steve shrugged, shaking his head, and the man continued without so much as a pause. Steve wasn’t even sure he’d stopped to take a breath yet. “Well, I’m looking for her. I saw her outside and I have a feeling. And I never ignore a gut feeling. I’m Tony, by the way.”

“Steve,” he answered warily, sticking out a hand to shake.

Tony shook his head. “I don’t like being handed things.”

“I wasn’t-”

Before Steve could properly explain that he was _not_ , in fact, offering his hand to Tony for anything more than a handshake, the bell rang again and Tony bolted, presumably to look for his mysterious redhead. Soon, all the conversations started to blur together. A boy with tousled black hair and a beleaguered expression, a girl with short blonde hair who looked like she could kick his ass and not break a sweat, a girl with green eyes whose gaze felt like it looked right through him. Different people, with different words on their skin, but never the one who Steve was looking for. Again and again and again, until finally, Steve slipped out a side door, desperate for a break from the awkward small talk.

The air in the hallway was blessedly cooler. The lights in the building were out for the night, and they wouldn’t come on again until it was time for the next day’s classes. Lights from outside the windows danced along the walls, and dark shadows hid in the corners. Steve breathed deeply, relishing the quiet, as he agonized over whether or not to go back in.

“Excuse me?” a voice said from behind him.

“Yes?” Steve answered without thinking.

He turned to face whomever had spoken, and for a second it was like staring into the sun. Steve was filled with light and warmth and his chest felt full to bursting with it, with _knowing_ , and then-

It was just a man standing in front of him with brown hair pulled back into a messy bun and blue eyes that looked almost black in the darkness of the hallway. And he was absolutely the most perfect thing that Steve had ever seen.

“Did you?” The man looked as shocked as Steve felt.

“Yeah,” Steve nodded in a daze.

They stared at each other and Steve felt something stirring in his core, something that felt like the first buds of spring rising from the earth to reach up towards the sun.

“Hi,” Steve said, grinning like a loon. “I’m Steve.”

“Bucky,” the man answered back with a smile, and Steve finally had to concede that maybe Sam had been right to drag him out tonight after all.


End file.
